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Copy 1 before Everything — Liberty** 



Our Duty to the Philippines 

A LETTER BY 
THE HON. GEORGE FRISBIE HOAR 



JANUARY n, J900 



" Before Everything — Liberty 



Our Duty to tlie Philippines 



A LETTER 



THE HON. GEORGE FRISBIE HOAR 



Reprinted from the 
"Springfield Republican,*' January II, 1900 



PUBLISHED BY THE 
NEW ENGLAND ANTI-IMPERIALIST LEAGUE 

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55529 



A LETTER BY THE HON. GEORGE 
FRISBIE HOAR. 



At a meeting of the Essex Club, last Saturday, 
Mr. Quiirg, lately a Republican member of Congress 
from New York, after some undeserved compliment, 
made this statement, referring to me : " What he 
wants us to do I can define in no other words than 
these : He wants us to skulk from our duty." 

I wish to put against this statement my emphatic 
denial. What I wanted the American people to do 
in the beo:innino^, what I have wanted them to do all 
along, what I want them to do now, is to do in the 
Philippines exactly what we have done, are doing, 
and expect to do in Cuba. If we have skulked in 
Cuba, then Mr. Quigg may be justified in saying 
that I would skulk in the Philippines. We have 
liberated both from Spain, and we have had no 
thought — at least I have had no thought — of giving 
either back to Spain. 

I should as soon give back a redeemed soul to 
Satan as give back the people of the Philippine 
islands to the cruelty and tyranny of Spain. In- 
deed, since they got arms, an army, and an organi- 
zation, I do not believe it would have been in the 
power of Spain to subdue them again. But the 
United States never, in my judgment, should have 
allowed her to make the attempt. Having delivered 
them from Spain, we were bound in all honor to 



protect their newly acquired liberty against the am- 
bition or greed of any other nation on earth. And 
we were equally bound to protect them against our 
own. We were bound to stand by them, a defender 
and protector, until their new governments were 
established in freedom and in honor ; until they had 
made treaties with the powers of the earth and were 
as secure in their national independence as Switzer- 
land is secure, as Denmark is secure, as Belgium is 
secure, as San Domingo or Venezuela is secure. 

Now, if this be a policy of skulking from duty I 
fail to see it. Perhaps I am not so familiar with the 
history or the vocabulary of liberty as Mr. Quigg. 
Perhaps they understand these things better in New 
York City than we do in Massachusetts. Perhaps 
Mr. Ouiorsf is a better counsellor than I am to the 
representatives of the county of George Cabot, of 
Glover, of Whittier, of Nathan Dane, and of Robert 
Rantoul. But, at any rate, the policy which I have 
stated seems to me the true American policy ; the 
counsel which I have feebly recited is the best I have 



to give. 



We based our policy in regard to Cuba, did we 
not, on the ground that it Avas the policy of right- 
eousness and liberty ? We did not tempt the cupidity 
of any millionaire or even the honest desire for em- 
ployment of any workman, by the argument that if 
we reduced the people of Cuba to our dominion we 
could make money out of her and she could not help 
herself. In those days we were appealing to the 
great, noble heart of America, and not to the breeches 
pocket. 

I differ from Mr. Quigg both as to principles and 
as to facts. If we were bound in honor and in 



righteousness, bound by the history of our own past, 
bound by the principles and pledges of our people, to 
abstain from depriving Cuba of the liberty we bad 
given her because it was right, we are, in my judg- 
ment, all the more bound to abstain from depriving 
the people of the Philippine islands of their liberties 
because it is right. 

If I am right in affirming this as a matter of prin- 
ciple (and I am a little curious to see who will stand 
up and dispute it on Massachusetts soil, or who will 
speak any other doctrine to the sons of Essex), then 
the question becomes a question of fact. 

Are the people of the Philippine islands as w^ell 
entitled to their freedom and independence as the 
people of Cuba? 

Had they contributed as much to achieving their 
independence as had the people of Cuba ? 

Do they desire their independence as do the people 
of Cuba ? 

Are they fit to govern themselves as are the people 
of Cuba? 

Have they forfeited their right to their independence 
by any misconduct, such as attacking the army of 
the United States wantonly and without provoca- 
tion? 

Now, the facts which enable us to answer all these 
questions, about which the people have been so much 
misled during the last summer, come to us at length 
from the reports of the commanders of our army and 
navy in the Philippine islands. I have two witnesses 
to call, General Otis and Admiral Dewey. While I 
may not adopt all their conclusions as to policy (and 
it is not the special business of soldiers and sailors 
to determine the policies of the country), I have no 



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desire to go beyond them and the men for whom they 
vouch in the matter of fact. 

But before citing the evidence let me state what I 
would do to-day, as I have stated what I desired to 
do before the war broke out. The Philippine armies 
are scattered. General Lawton said they were the 
bravest men he had ever seen. But they have been 
beaten in every battle. Aguinaldo is a fugitive and 
in concealment. They are in the condition that 
Spain was in after Napoleon had overthrown her 
navies and driven out her king at the beginning of 
the Peninsular War with a 

" Host as huge and strong as e'er defied 

Their God and placed their trust in human pride." 

Whether they will repeat the history of Spain, 
dispersing like foam when they are attacked, coming 
too^ether at>ain like the thunder-cloud, and in the end 
wear out the patience of the conqueror, it is not 
worth while to speculate. It is not from any fear 
of any foeman, powerful or insignificant, that the 
American people are to determine their duty. If 
the thing be right they mean to do it. If it be 
wrong they will not do it. 

I would send General Wood or General Miles or 
Admiral Dewey to Luzon. I would have him gather 
about him a cabinet of the best men among the 
Filipinos, who have the confidence of the people and 
desire nothing but their welfai-e. In all provinces 
and municipalities where civil government is now 
established possessing the confidence of the people, 
I would consult with their rulers and representatives. 
I would lend the aid of the army of the United States 
only to keep order. I Avould permit the people to 



make laws and to administer la^vs, subject to some 
supervision or inspection, till the disturbed times are 
over and peace has settled down again upon that 
country, insuring the security of the people against 
avarice, ambition, or peculation. 

So soon as it seems that government can maintain 
itself peacefully and in order, I would by degrees 
withdraw the authority of the United States, making 
a treaty with them that we would protect them against 
the cupidity of any other nation and Avould lend our 
aid for a reasonable time to maintain order and law. 
I would not hesitate, if it were needful, althousfh I 
have not the slightest belief that it would be needful, 
to vote to make them a loan of a moderate sum to 
replenish their wasted treasury. 

Now, if this be skulking, if this be ignoble, if this 
be unworthy of an American citizen or a Massachu- 
setts senator, then I must plead guilty to Mr. Quigg's 
charge. But these are the things I would have done, 
and this is the thing I would do now. If this coun- 
sel had been followed not a man would have died on 
either side ; not a drop of blood would have been 
spilt ; not a recruit would have been needed by army 
or navy since the day when Manila capitulated to 
Otis. Nearly all of the thirty-six war vessels, with 
their 5,000 or 6,000 men, could have been ordered 
home more than a year ago. Our army there, greater 
than that with which Lee defended his lines so lons", 
greater than that which Sherman led to the sea, 
greater than our armies of the Revolution or of the 
war of 1812, would all have come home, except a 
small ojarrison. 

I have carefully read Admiral Dewey's despatches, 
including the testimony of two naval officers whom 



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he sent on a two-months' tour through Luzon, before 
the conflict between our troops and those of Agui- 
naldo, which, under his own signature, he declares 
to be the best statement of the condition of things 
there that has been made. I have read many of the 
despatches of General Otis. A few of these have 
been published. Some of them have, so far, been 
withheld from public knowledge. They establish 
beyond reasonable doubt, clearly, — 

1. That Aguinaldo is an honest, patriotic, and 
brave man. Indeed, that is the express testimony 
of Mr. Schurman, president of Cornell University, 
and president of the commission appointed by our 
government to investigate matters there. 

2. That Aouinaldo was the chosen leader of the 
people of the Philippine islands. 

3. That that people have from the beginning 
desired independence, and desire it now. 

4. That this desire was communicated to our 
commanders when they gave them arms, accepted 
their aid, and brought Aguinaldo from his exile, 
when he was put in command of 30,000 Filipino 
soldiers, who were already in arms and organized. 

5. That the people of the Philippine islands, 
before we fired upon their troops, had delivered 
their own land from Spain, with the single exception 
of the town of Manila, and that they hemmed in the 
Spanish troops on land by a line extending from 
water to water. 

6. That we could not have captured the Spanish 
garrison, which was done by an arrangement before- 
hand, upon a mere show of resistance, but for the 
fact that they were so hemmed in by Aguinaldo's 
forces and could not retreat beyond the range and 
fire of the sfuns of our fleet. 



7. That during all this period, from the beginning 
to the tinal conflict, the Filipinos were repeatedly 
informing our government, not only by communica- 
tions addressed to the commanders on land and sea, 
but ])y those addressed to the President of the United 
States, that they desired their freedom, and that 
they were never informed of any purpose on our 
part to subdue them. 

8. That they were fit for independence. They 
had churches, libraries, works of art, and education. 
They were better educated than many American 
communities within the memory of some of us. 
They Avere eager and amlntious to learn. They 
were governing their entire island, except Manila, in 
order and quiet, with municipal governments, courts 
of justice, schools, and a complete constitution rest- 
ing upon the consent of the people. They were 
better fitted for self-government than any country on 
the American continent south of us, from the Eio 
Grande to Cape Horn ; or than San Domingo or 
Hayti when these countries, respectively, achieved 
their independence ; and are fitter for self-govern- 
ment than some of them are now. They are now as 
fit for self-government as was Japan when she was 
welcomed into the family of nations. 

9. That the outbreak of hostilities was not their 
fault, but ours. A patrol, not a hostile military force, 
approached a small village between the lines of the 
two armies ; a village on the American side of the 
line of demarkation, to which some of our soldiers 
had been moved in disregard of the rule applicable to 
all cases of truce. When this patrol approached this 
town it was challenged. How far the Filipinos 
understood our language, or how far our pickets 



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understood the reply that the}' made in their own 
language, does not appear. But we fired upon them 
first. The fire was returned from their lines. There- 
upon it was returned again from us, and several 
Filipinos were killed. As soon as Aguinaldo heard 
of it he sent a message to General Otis saying that 
the firing was without his knowledge and against his 
will ; that he deplored it, and that he desired hostili- 
ties to cease, and would withdraw^ his troops to any 
distance General Otis should desire. To which the 
American general replied that, as the firing had 
begun, it must go on. Now, how^ absurd for the 
persons who could have stopped it at any time from 
the beofinnino- with a sin2:le word of assurance that 
they meant to respect the liberties of the people of the 
Philippine islands, to charge the men who have been 
constantly begging them to say that word with being 
responsible for the continuance of the war ! 

10. That on the 28th of December, 1898, the two 
sides being at peace, although great uneasiness and 
irritation had already manifested itself on the part of 
the Filipinos, who were afraid we meant to sub- 
jugate them. President McKinley sent to General 
Otis a proclamation. Remember that a dozen times 
during the spring and summer and autumn Aguinaldo 
had proclaimed that his people w-ere seeking their 
independence, and had implored the " great American 
people, by all their great history and traditions," 
with which he appears to have been quite familiar, 
not to interfere with it. 

Now, on the 28th of December, 1898, the Presi- 
dent of the United States sent to General Otis a 
proclamation which he commanded him to issue. 
General Otis, on reading it, to use the language of 
his report, said : 



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" After fully considering the President's proclama- 
tion and the temper of the Tagalos, with whom I was 
in daily discussion of poHtical problems and the 
friendly intentions of the United States government 
toward them, I concluded that certain words and ex- 
pressions therein, such as 'sovereignty,' 'right of 
cession,' and those which directed immediate occu- 
pation, etc., though most admirably employed and 
tersely expressive of actual conditions, might be ad- 
vantageously used by the Tagalo war party to incite 
widespread hostilities among the natives. The igno- 
rant classes had been taught to believe that certain 
words, such as 'sovereignty,' 'protection,' etc., had 
peculiar meaning, disastrous to their w^elfare and 
significant of future political domination." 

The ignorant people of America have been taught 
to believe just such things. I have seen such things 
in the writings of Washington and Adams and Jef- 
ferson, of Whittier and Garrison and Nathan Dane 
and Rantoul, and others of the men of Essex. Now 
General Otis goes on to say : 
J "It was my opinion, therefore, that I w^ould be 

iustified in so amending the paper that the beneficent 
object of the United States government would be 
brought clearly Avithin the comprehension of the 
people." 

Whereupon General Otis proceeds to amend the 
President's proclamation by striking out everything 
in it which contains a purpose to assume sovereignty 
or protection, and which was significant of future 
political domination ; and, instead thereof, he issued, 
on the 4th day of January, 1899, — less than eight 
wrecks before the outbreak of hostilities, — a procla- 
mation, which he gives in a report, in which he sup- 






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pressed all these utterances, and assured them that 
it is the purpose of the people of the United States 
to give them, " in every possible way, the full meas- 
ure of individual rights and liberty which is the heri- 
tage of a free people." And he adds : 

" I am convinced that it is the intention of the 
United States government to seek the establishment 
of a most liberal government for the islands, in which 
the people themselves shall have as full representa- 
tion as the maintenance of law and order will permit, 
and which shall be susceptible of development, on 
the lines of increased representation and the bestowal 
of increased powers, into a government as free and 
independent as is enjoyed by the most ftivored prov- 
inces of the world." 

That assurance which General Otis gave to the 
people of Manila is just what I have always wanted 
and all I have always wanted to give them. But, un- 
happily, General Otis's proclamation was frustrated. 
In the meantime he had sent a copy of the Presi- 
dent's proclamation to General Miller, who was lying 
opposite Iloilo, burning for a fight, and who, much 
to General Otis's distress, as his despatches show, 
pul)lished it. So you had the commanding general 
denying all purpose of domination or of interfering 
with their independence on the one hand, and the 
President of the United States on the other assert- 
ing that purpose ; and the Filipinos were naturally 
alarmed and shocked. 

General Otis goes on to tell how Aguinaldo 
appealed to his people to stand by their indepen- 
dence, how the Filipino newspapers took it up in 
ansry articles, and how the people, who were begin- 
ning- to be pacified and hopeful, Avere excited again, 
and justly. 



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Xow put yourselves, men of Essex, in the places 
of these people. What would your fathers have 
done if General Gage and Lord North had been the 
actors ? What would any people on the face of the 
earth, whose bosoms are capable of holding the senti- 
ment of liberty have done ? Is it not infamous for 
anybody to turn around and tell you that the men 
who believe that the Filipinos should have been 
assured just what General Otis tried to assure them 
of are responsible for the outbreak of the war? 
General Otis says that the proclamation Avhich 
actually came out, through General Miller's depart- 
ure from his intentions, was calculated to cause, 
and did cause, the hostilities, and excite alarm and 
indicrnation in the bosoms of that freedom-seekino- 
people. 

I do not know what other men may think or what 
other men may say. But there is not a drop of 
])lood in my veins, there is not a feeling in my heart 
that does not respect a weak people struggling with 
a strong one. 

Some of our friends tell us that the Filipinos are not 
a people. President McKinley says they are, and that 
he desires " in every possible way to insure them the 
full measure of individual rights and liberty which 
is the heritage of a free people." General Otis says 
they are, and that it is the intention of the United 
States government to appoint the representative men 
of the Philippine islands to civil positions of trust 
in a government " as free and independent as is en- 
joyed by the most favored provinces of the earth." 

When Patrick Henry was making his great speech 
in the old court-house in Virginia, ending with the 
words, ^'' Give me liberty or give me death," he was 



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interrupted by somebody with a shout of " Treason ! '* 
He finished his sentence, and replied, as every Essex 
schoolboy knows, "If this be treason, make the most 
of it ! " I am unworthy to loose the latchet of the 
shoes of Patrick Henry, but I claim to love human 
liberty as well as he did, and I believe the love of 
human liberty will never be held to be treason by 
Massachusetts. 

There were five of my name and blood who stood 
in arms at Concord brids^e in the mornino^ of the 
Kevolution, on the 19th of April, 1775. My grand- 
father stood with John Adams and Thomas Jeffer- 
son and Benjamin Franklin when they presented to 
the Continental Congress that great paper, the bring- 
ing^ in of which was the foremost action of human 
history, which declares that the just powers of 
government rest upon the consent of the people, and 
that, when a people desire it, the laws of nature 
and the laws of God entitle them to take a separate 
and equal station among the nations of the earth. 

And these Filipinos, as President McKinley says, 
and as General Otis says, "are a people," and so 
entitled to be independent. 

I have no right to feel any peculiar pride in the 
action of any ancestor of my own in those great days 
which tried men's souls and when all true Americans 
thought in that way, although I should be disgraced, 
and ought to hide my head from the gaze of men, if 
I were to depart from those principles. But I have 
a right to feel a just pride in and to boast of some- 
thing much higher than any personal kindred. lam 
a son of Massachusetts. For more than three-score 
years and ten I have sat at her dear feet. I have 
seen the light from her beautiful eyes, I have heard 



15 



high counsel from her lips. She has taught me to 
love liberty ; to stand by the weak against the strong, 
when the rights of the weak are in peril ; she has led 
me to believe that if I do this, however humbly, 
however imperfectly, and whatever other men may 
say, I shall have her approbation, and shall be 
deemed not unworthy of her love. Other men will 
do as they please. But as for me, God helping me, 
I can do no otherwise. 



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